


the birdsong, the distant sky

by divine_chicken



Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, F/F, Falling In Love, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slightly graphic description of injuries, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23288242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divine_chicken/pseuds/divine_chicken
Summary: lillia, and the beautiful woman with the blue hair.
Relationships: Elena & Lillia (Fire Emblem), Elena/Lillia (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	the birdsong, the distant sky

... The woman enters her room, and Lillia thinks about how mismatched her bright blue hair and her soft, lively face is in the dark cell.  
She doesn't notice her for a moment, but Lillia doesn't blame her - all bones and paper skin, her hair a grimy mess, her palms filled with bloody crescent moons from where she'd dug her broken nails in.  
When the woman notices, she is clearly startled, and that shock turns to horror when her gaze moves up to her wings, more featherless than not, the bare skin covered in dried blood. The poor woman stares for a moment, and then she runs - but surely she must be coming back, for she left her salves there, as well as her staff, its glow comforting in the glum room.

When she comes back, she's holding a hairbrush, and Lillia lets her approach. The woman smiles at her, comforting, her shock replaced with determination, as she gently threads her fingers in Lillia's hair and starts working at the hopeless knots tangled in it, and the heron's breath hitches. Her hair is grimy, and it's a mess, but the priestess doesn't even flinch as she carefully undoes the knots in her hair, until it's slightly presentable and it doesn't fall in her eyes anymore. 

She picks up her brush then, and she gently starts brushing her hair, making soft shushing noises when the heron flinches from the inevitable pain of any tangles left being caught at the teeth of the brush. Gently, softly, carefully, she brushes her hair, and it's dirty, but it's proper. And then, to her surprise, she feels even softer fingers working at her weakened hair gingerly, as if she's handling the most delicate flower - and she fashions a braid around her scalp, slightly reminiscent of Reyson's circlet. 

She smiles at her, and Lillia smiles back weakly, and she can't help but notice the dimples forming at the edges of the woman's mouth. 

" L... Lillia," she croaks, her voice funny from going unused for so long, more a heave than actual voice.  
She points at the woman, then. " Lillia?" She whispers.

" Elena," she responds, and the kind woman with the beautiful smile has a name now.

" E... Elena," Lillia whispers weakly, but she manages a smile at her. " Elena," she repeats, but it's more like a " thank you."

-

When she visits again, she's bearing tea, and when Lillia looks at it curiously, Elena points at her throat.  
" For your throat," she says, more to herself than anyone else, and Lillia nods.

She falls asleep as Elena is tending to her, because her hands as soft and they don't feel like pain and she can forget the fire for a moment, and she can focus on the soft light of her staff and the slight glow of her face illuminating her cell.  
" Elena," she whispers as she falls asleep, and the last thing she feels is the woman caressing her forearm tentatively but kindly.

\- 

The next time Elena visits, Lillia whispers a small tune to her, and Elena brings her a simple picture book and helps her read and pronounce small words, and Lillia teaches her how those were said back in her now dead kingdom.  
Elena mispronounces a word, and Lillia laughs just a little, and her eyes shine for the first time, and it's only then that Elena truly realizes what the people meant when they called herons magical beings.

-

The first time Lillia forms a sentence, it's clumsy and the words stumble on her tongue, but Elena smiles brightly and excitedly, and the heron girl's face lights up, too.  
She feels the priestess squeeze her hand, and if she closes her eyes for a moment she can almost pretend she's not a husk anymore. 

\- 

Elena watches push her rice away, and just her sad look alone is enough to convince Lillia to manage to swallow down a couple of bites.

-

The first thing Elena tells to her when she speaks the ancient tongue is " you are my friend", and Lillia thinks about how much she wants to kiss her, to hold her, to show her a kingdom that no longer exists.

She traces her wedding band instead.

" His... Name?" She softly asks.

" Gawain," Elena responds, a blush gracing her cheeks.

" Gawain... Fortunate, very." Lillia murmurs, and Elena's blush only spreads.

-

" ... Sit," Lillia whispers, pointing at the space between her thighs.  
"Braid," she explains, and Elena nods, and Lillia prays that she knew how the beorc speak, because Elena deserves to hear more than broken words from a flightless bird.

Softly, she starts braiding her hair, humming the galdr of rebirth, and when she's done, Elena's face is red and her eyes are wide in awe.

" This song..." She whispers. " You sing it to calm the medallion down, don't you? I've seen you."

" Y... Yes," Lillia nods.

" Will you teach me?" She pleads, and how could Lillia say no to her gemstones of eyes?

-

The first time Elena manages to sing the song fully, Lillia is starting to fall asleep - she's getting tired more easily as of late. Her eyes droop, and she feels Elena's warm hands run through her golden hair as she sings her to sleep, and even though she's exhausted, she manages to stay awake so she can listen to it all, despite her eyes being closed and her mouth slightly opened.

Elena must think she's asleep however, because she wouldn't kiss her on the forehead before she left if she didn't. 

-

She falls ill, once Elena has learnt how to sing the galdr, and she's singing it to her swollen belly sometimes, and Lillia sang it to the child inside it too, caressing it as if it were a heron fledgling, as if there are no beorc and laguz, just her and Elena and her smile. 

" We'll call it Ike," Elena had proudly announced.

" Lovely name," she'd responded.

The truth is, she's been getting more and more tired - and now that Elena knows how to sing the song, to quell the medallion's chaotic energies, there is not much left for her to do. She's in love, yes, madly, hopelessly, and her gift (or curse) of being able to look into others' hearts shows her that, yes, Elena holds that same warmth. But she could never fool herself with the hopes of a happy life - she'll die young, but she'll be back home soon, with Father and Mother and Reyson and Rafiel and sweet little Leanne.

-

When the fever quakes her, Elena's face cracks in million little pieces of sorrow, and she moves to heal her, but Lillia weakly stops her staff.

"N... No," she croaks.

" Lillia... Lillia, why? Let me heal you..." 

" No..." She whispers again, but she gingerly wraps her wand around Elena's wrist, silently encouraging her to cup her face, and Elena understands.

" If... I die now, I die happily."

" M... My Lilly?"

" I live... More than you," she whispers, and Elena's slightly calloused thumb traces her cheek tenderly.  
" If I die now... I die and I have a friend. If I live, you d-die before me, and I'm alone."

" But you're so young-!"

" Please!" She chokes, and she's never, not once raised her voice before.  
" Let me have this... Elena. Do you know that it means light in heron words?"

" I do not," Elena whispers, but it's a choked gasp, and her eyes well with tears.

" It is because you are light," Lillia croaks. " My light..." She murmurs, and she kisses the inside of her palm weakly.

Elena lingers, soft and silent, just gazing at the other woman. How beautiful she must've looked when she was strong, she thinks, when she was happy, all golden hair and a bright smile and sweet eyes, playing with her siblings like she'd told her. 

" Elena?" She whispers.

" Yes?"

" I ... Made a song for you. I want to sing for you one last time."

" Of course..." Elena whispers, and so Lillia begins, her voice shaky but gorgeous, like a beautiful rose that's wilting and you know that there is nothing to be done to save it. She sings of light, of happiness and soft hands and blue eyes and blue hair and soft lips, and the lyrics slowly fade with her, until she grows too weak to keep going, and Elena is crying by now, but Lillia smiles at her, one last time before they part.

" No tears," she whispers. " I want you smile," and Elena nods as she wipes them off her face and offers her a shaky smile.

" I'll never forget you, my Lilly," she chokes, and she leans in to kiss her eyelids shut, and then her forehead.  
" Sleep, now," she whispers against her temple, and Lillia obeys, she can do little else with the effect Elena has on her.

She falls asleep, peaceful, finally peaceful, and she dreams of the forest, of her people, of their beautiful wings, the flowers, the animals. She dreams of singing, and she dreams of her family, and she dreams of her friends.  
Finally, she dreams of her, of holding her soft face in her hands as she kisses her, and it's the last yet ever so sweet thought she has before she lets death embrace her.


End file.
